Chien Hsiang-Yun, Gau Susan Shur-Fen, Hsu Yung-Chin, Chen Yu-Jen, Lo Yu-Chun, Shih Yao-Chia, Tseng Wen-Yih Isaac
Center for Optoelectronic Medicine, National Taiwan University College of Medicine, Taipei, Taiwan.
Department of Psychiatry, National Taiwan University Hospital and College of Medicine, Taipei, Taiwan.
Autism Res. 2015 Dec;8(6):694-708. doi: 10.1002/aur.1484. Epub 2015 Mar 28.
Previous studies using neural activity recording and neuroimaging techniques have reported functional deficits in the mirror neuron system (MNS) for individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). However, a few studies focusing on gray and white matter structures of the MNS have yielded inconsistent results. The current study recruited adolescents and young adults with ASD (aged 15-26 years) and age-matched typically developing (TD) controls (aged 14-25 years). The cortical thickness (CT) and microstructural integrity of the tracts connecting the regions forming the classical MNS were investigated. High-resolution T1-weighted imaging and diffusion spectrum imaging were performed to quantify the CT and tract integrity, respectively. The structural covariance of the CT of the MNS regions revealed a weaker coordination of the MNS network in ASD. A strong correlation was found between the integrity of the right frontoparietal tracts and the social communication subscores measured by the Chinese version of the Social Communication Questionnaire. The results showed that there were no significant mean differences in the CTs and tract integrity between the ASD and TD groups, but revealed a moderate or even reverse age effect on the frontal MNS structures in ASD. In conclusion, aberrant structural coordination may be an underlying factor affecting the function of the MNS in ASD patients. The association between the right frontoparietal tracts and social communication performance implies a neural correlate of communication processing in the autistic brain. This study provides evidence of abnormal MNS structures and their influence on social communication in individuals with ASD.
以往使用神经活动记录和神经成像技术的研究报告称，自闭症谱系障碍（ASD）患者的镜像神经元系统（MNS）存在功能缺陷。然而，一些关注MNS灰质和白质结构的研究结果并不一致。本研究招募了年龄在15 - 26岁的ASD青少年和青年以及年龄匹配的发育正常（TD）对照者（年龄在14 - 25岁）。研究了连接构成经典MNS区域的神经束的皮质厚度（CT）和微观结构完整性。分别进行了高分辨率T1加权成像和扩散光谱成像以量化CT和神经束完整性。MNS区域CT的结构协方差显示ASD中MNS网络的协调性较弱。发现右侧额顶叶神经束的完整性与中文版社交沟通问卷测量的社交沟通子分数之间存在强相关性。结果表明，ASD组和TD组之间在CT和神经束完整性方面没有显著的平均差异，但显示出ASD患者额叶MNS结构存在中度甚至相反的年龄效应。总之，异常的结构协调性可能是影响ASD患者MNS功能的潜在因素。右侧额顶叶神经束与社交沟通表现之间的关联暗示了自闭症大脑中沟通处理的神经关联。本研究提供了ASD患者MNS结构异常及其对社交沟通影响的证据。
